Korean Subject Honorific Suffix (으)시
In Korean, honorifics are used to show respect to the addressee (who the speaker is talking to) or the referent (who the speaker is talking about). There are different ways to show respect in Korean, such as in pronoun (저, 저희…), particle, verb, suffix (님…), sentence-final ending (습니다, 아/어요…), as well as today’s topic, subject honorific (으) 시.
When the subject is someone who we have to show respect, we have to attach the honorific suffix (으)시 to the stem of the predicate. The particle 이/가 also needs to become 께서, 은/는 becomes 께서는, and 한테/에게 becomes 께. If the subject is an inanimate object, but it belongs to the person who we have to respect, we still need to use the honorific suffix (으)시.
In essence, “teacher” is the subject of the sentence “the teacher goes to school,” and it’s someone, I, the speaker, needs to show respect to. The person we have to honour is often older people in general, people of esteemed occupations, or senior-rank personnel. Therefore, when we want to describe the action of the teacher, which is “to go to school,” we have to use the honorific suffix (으)시 to show respect.
Subject honorific is different from the sentence-final endings (습니다, 아/어요…) that we talked about before. For sentence-final endings, we determine which endings to use depending on the addressee (listener). For subject honorific on the other hand, we determine whether or not we use (으)시 based on the subject/ topic of the sentence.
Sentence structure: Verb/Adjective + (으)시
*ends with consonant = 으시; ends with vowel = 시
Particle 이/가 → 께서, 은/는 → 께서는, 한테 (person) /에게 (object) → 께
Example:
1. 가다 + (으)시 = 가시다 (to go)
+아/어요 = 가세요
+ㅂ니다/ 습니다 = 가십니다
2. 입다 + (으)시 = 입으시다 (to wear)
+아/어요 = 입으세요
+ㅂ니다/ 습니다 = 입으십니다
Honorific nouns:
Name = 이름 → 성함
Age = 나이 → 연세
Speech = 말 → 말씀
Home = 집 → 댁
Meal = 밥 → 진지
Birthday = 생일 → 생신
Person = 사람 → 분
Son = 아들 → 아드님
Daughter = 딸 → 따님
Honorific verbs/adjectives:
To exist/ to have = 있다 → 계시다 (to exist) / 있으시다 (to have)
To talk = 말하다 → 말씀하시다
To sleep = 자다 → 주무시다
To eat = 먹다 → 잡수시다/드시다
To drink = 마시다 → 드시다
To be hurt = 아프다 → 편찮으시다 (not particular) / 아프시다 (certain parts)
To die = 죽다 → 돌아가시다
Examples:
1. 아버지가 내일 제주도에 가요. → 아버지께서 내일 제주도에 가세요.
= Father is going to Jeju Island tomorrow.
Since we are describing dad’s behaviour, we need to use honorifics. The particle 가 is replaced by 께서, and 가다 is added with (으)시 to become 가시다.
2. 그 사람은 선생님이에요. → 그 분께서는 선생님이세요.
= That person is a teacher.
In this sentence, we are talking about teachers, a group of people that are generally being highly respected in Korea. Also, when we are talking to or about strangers, we need to use honorifics regardless. The honorific noun of 사람 is 분, the particle 은 becomes 께서는, and 이에요 becomes 이세요.
When the subject is higher in seniority or elder, but the listener is even more superior, the subject honorific (으)시 is not needed.
할아버지, 아버지가 지금 왔습니다. (Grandpa, dad is here now.)
In fact, the ending of (으)세요 has a respectful and cordial tone, so many Koreans use it habitually with people they don’t know or not too familiar with, even if they are not older or higher in status.
1. 빨리 다녀와요. → 빨리 다녀오세요. (Please go and come back quickly)
2. 앉아요. → 앉으세요. (Please take a seat)
